Constantine’s accession was a triumph for the civil aristocracy and was unfortunate in that he proved an incapable emperor. He reduced the army and neglected the frontier defenses at a time when the Seljuq Turks were pressing into the eastern provinces; consequently, the sultan Alp Arslan overran Armenia (1064–65) and attacked Caesarea (1067). In 1064 the Hungarians occupied Belgrade, and the Pechenegs (Patzinaks) and Uzes (Kumans) crossed the Danube River and ravaged the Balkan provinces, penetrating into Greece. In Italy the Normans were rapidly conquering the last remnants of the Byzantine possessions.

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